Al Edwards, Business Co-ordinatorCellular operator Digicel is to take on many of the staffers that its competitor Centennial Digital Jamaica (CDJ) plans to lay off.
Last Friday, CDJ issued a statement that declared that it will be restructuring its operations and that it will be cutting a number of jobs.
"This action is unfortunate and regrettable, however, necessary to allow Centennial Jamaica to expand its network and continue to offer the quality service its customers have come to expect," read the statement.
CDJ currently employs approximately 230 staff.
Speaking to The Sunday Gleaner, Digicel's Chief Operating Officer, Seamus Lynch, said: "We are prepared to take on as many of the staff that Centennial has laid off into our operations in Jamaica, particularly their technical, customer care and sales personnel as we seek to expand our business both here in Jamaica and in the wider Caribbean."
Mr. Lynch said further that he is very impressed with the Jamaican work ethic and "...I am of the opinion that they can do a successful job anywhere in the Caribbean. We plan to use the former Centennial personnel in our Jamaican operations while giving our existing staff an opportunity to work in St. Lucia and St. Vincent and other countries in the region where we operate a telecommunications licence."
Last week Sunday Business revealed that the Irish telecoms company had won a licence in St. Vincent where it hoped to have between 20,000-30,000 customers at the end of its first year of operations. Digicel will also operate a cellular network in neighbouring St. Lucia.
Digicel paid between US$200,000 to US$300,000 for spectrum fees in St.Vincent. This works out to be between two to three per cent of overall net revenue.
CDJ acquired its broadband 800 MHz CDMA cellular licence in Jamaica for US$45 million . To date it has already spent some US$85 million and had plans to spend a further US$45 million by the end of next year in the hope of turning a profit by 2004. At $7 per minute CDJ offers the lowest cellular rates currently in Jamaica. The company intended to have a customer base of 47,000 by this time but has failed to meet that target. Adding to its woes is the fact that it has been unable to erect the number of requisite network towers for its operations in Jamaica relegating its service to Kingston and St. Catherine only.
In July, privately owned telecoms company Oceanic Digital Communications announced it would be acquiring a 51 per cent interest in CDJ from its parent Centennial Communications.
Digicel said its US$10 million international gateway switching facility will be ready by next month. This will allow two routes in and out of Jamaica and should reduce international rates by 20 per cent. Located opposite Caymanas Polo and Golf Club, the facility will come into effect by March.
"Right now all international switching goes through Cable & Wireless but with this new facility of ours, customers will get bandwidth at affordable prices," said Mr.Lynch.
